Corruption: Who’s Watching?

Tanya Ott | September 24, 2009

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2009/09/robrosenthal-small.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:66;s:6:"height";i:66;s:4:"file";s:30:"2009/09/robrosenthal-small.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:0:{}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => already_optimized
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1674295651 
1253750400

Birmingham–

This week on WBHM we’re exploring the culture of corruption in Alabama. When it comes to rooting out shady deals, newspapers have historically been the most vigilant watchdogs. Think Woodward and Bernstein’s Watergate. Or more recently, former Birmingham News reporter Brett Blackledge’s coverage of the two year college scandal in Alabama. Blackledge won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting.

But the Birmingham News, like many newspapers around the country, has been scaling back on its reporting. And some observers wonder, as the media landscape shifts, who will take up the mantle of corruption watchdog. WBHM’s Tanya Ott talked with Robert Rosenthal, a veteran newspaper reporter who now directs the Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, California.

Listen to the interview

~ Tanya Ott, September 24, 2009.